Hibbett Sporting Goods

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Hibbett Sporting Goods (Nasdaq: HIBB) is a Birmingham-based publicly-owned chain of sporting goods stores with 1,148 locations.

Its corporate offices are located in the former CVS Caremark Building at 2700 Milan Court in the Oxmoor Valley. Its distribution center moved from the Oxmoor Industrial Park to a site near the Shelby County Airport in Alabaster in 2013.

History

Hibbett was incorporated as Dixie Supply Company in 1945 in Florence, Lauderdale County, by high school coach Rufus Hibbett. At first the company carried a wide range of athletic, marine and aviation equipment. When Hibbett's two sons joined the company in 1952, he changed the name to Hibbett & Sons and reoriented the business to focus on the team sports market. In the mid 1960s they started branching out and changed the name to Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc.

Hibbett sold the company to the Anderson family of Florence in 1980. The Anderson's decided to target small and mid-sized markets, mainly in the South, avoiding direct competition with major national retailers and keeping operating and distribution costs low. Hibbett's also established a strong mall presence with their prototype 5,000 square foot Hibbett's Sports store, sometimes accompanied with a smaller Sports Additions footwear annex. The chain grew from 34 locations in 1993 to 41 in 1994, 60 in 1995.

The Andersons sold the growing company to the investment firm Saunders Karp & Company in 1995, and opened their first superstore Sports & Co. location in Huntsville that year. The larger format provided space for more "customer participation" such as basketball hoops and putting greens, as well as special appearances by athletes and other publicity events. In October 1996 Saunders Karp & Co. took Hibbett public. The company used the capital to fuel continued aggressive expansion. At the end of 1997 Hibbett Sporting Goods was operating 77 stores with retail sales of over $86 million. At the end of 1998 there were 120 stores in 14 states. 1999 was a record-breaking year for Hibbett, as net sales, profits and openings continued to accelerate.

The chain now has over 800 locations in 26 states, including 82 in Alabama, and annual sales of over $500 million. On February 11, 2007, the company changed its name to Hibbett Sports, Inc. Hibbett Sports is now the holding company of Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc.

In July 2012 it was announced that the distribution center would be moved from Birmingham's Oxmoor Valley to a new 360,000 square foot center just north of the Shelby County Airport in the ShelbyWest Industrial Park in Alabaster. The Alabaster site was chosen over a finalist site in Tupelo, Mississippi. The company's offices relocated to the former CVS Caremark Building on Milan Court near Red Mountain Park in 2013. The new building includes space for displaying Newsome's extensive collection of sports memorabilia.

Hibbett opened its 1,000th store on May 1, 2015 in Sealy, Texas. In December 2018 it acquired the Memphis-based athletic wear chain City Gear.

The chain planned to add another 40 to 50 stores in 2024.

Chief executives

Birmingham area location

Current locations

Former locations

References

External links